Knott's company shutters Windseeker rides

A theme-park company voluntarily closed the Windseeker ride at its parks, even though safety systems worked properly in five recent incidents that stranded passengers high in the air, a company official said.

Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., the parent company of Knott's Berry Farm, made the decision after Knott's visitors were stuck 300 feet in the air two times within two weeks. Passengers also got trapped at three other parks when safety systems were triggered.

California Division of Occupational Safety and Health officials ordered that Knott's shut down Windseeker while they conduct an investigation into technical problems and evacuation procedures.

But no government agencies required that Windseeker close at the other five parks, said Stacy Frole, a Cedar Fair spokeswoman. Cedar Fair wants to conduct an internal review before allowing the rides to re-open.

The $5 million Windseeker takes riders 300 feet in the air in swing-like chairs and twirls them around at up to a 45-degree angle. Cedar Fair is working with the ride's manufacturer, Mondial, based in the Netherlands. Mondial officials did not return an email message Monday.

At Knott's, an electrical relay problem stopped the ride Sept. 7, and the brakes malfunctioned Wednesday. In both cases, crews used a manual crank to lower the passengers. No one was injured.

The Knott's Berry Farm malfunctions came the month after state officials renewed Windseeker's annual certificate of compliance, which was issued Aug. 15. Windseeker also had passed an unannounced state inspection on Oct. 28 last year.

However, before the ride at Knott's initially opened, California officials had concerns that Windseeker failed to meet basic safety standards when the ride was already open in three out-of-state parks, according to a state report. It took almost a month for state officials to get documents needed to clear the ride for opening.

Frole said the ride had met safety standards in the other parks, but that California requires stricter documentation.

Mike Dills, whose 11-year-old daughter was stuck on Windseeker on Sept. 7, said he was glad that Cedar Fair shut down the Windseeker rides, although he thinks the company should have fixed the ride earlier.

"Now I see that the ride is being shut down across all parks, I have to wonder (about) their negligence," Dills said.